Hondaforlife954

I finally detail my car. Over the past few weeks I cleaned my car inside and out! Here are the before and after Pics.

Hondaforlife954

And now the after!!!!!! and no my wife did not drive my car....she cant, its a 6spd! ha!

Sarbag510

Nice job!! that looks so clean! Im about to detail mines tomorrow for the first time aswell
If u dont mind can u list the products that u used?

CU2MIKE

Nice job! It looks great

justnspace

iTrader: (1)

I love the results!

nj2pa2nc

Looks good-My husband and I have only Manual transmission vehicles. I am not a fan of automatic.

VQPower37

great job!

silkk8482

Lovely.

Hondaforlife954

Yeah no Problem. But this took many hours since it was my first time. It took about two weeks to complete this bc i only worked a few hours at a time.

Here I go.

Clean the engine 1st (always clean inside out)


Step 1: Remove all plastics and rinse the entire engine bay and plastics with water.

step 2: I then sprayed everything with Super purple degreaser. Use Lacquer thinner for non painted parts if needed.

Step 3: Brush everything! Then Rinse. repeat step 2/3 if needed.

Step 4: double check everything then spray using your choice of engine detailer (Bought it at AutoZONE 5 bucks or so) and let dry. It smells just like tire spray.

Step 5: wash car using your favorite car wash soap. I used Mequiars gold car wash.

Step 6: Dry car thoroughly.

step 7: Inspect the paint. determine how bad it is.

Step 8: Buy a Dual action orbital polisher. I bought a Meguiars for a 100$ used off amazon. new is 149$. Here is a link where i learned a bunch of info! http://paintcarendetailing.com/

Step 9: using low adhesive tape tape off all plastic parts and windows.

Step 10: Using a Lake Country Orange buffing pad and Menzerna Super Intense polish, polish entire car. Working a few hours every night took about 7-9hrs to complete.

Step 11: using a Lake Country white buffing pad and Menzerna PO85RD final Polish polish entire car. Took about 5-6hrs. Watch the videos on the link. I must of watch them 10 times before i tackled this.

Step 12: cold rinse the car to get rid of any left over polish. be sure to dry it thoroughly. I also cleaned all the door sill and inside of every door.(painted areas)

Step 13: using Meguiars NXT 2.0 wax, wax entire car. Let dry then buff using a micro fiber cloth. I bought maybe 20 of these! i wash them after they have been used. Waxing took about 3-4hrs.

Step 14: Clean inside the CAR. 1hr

Step 15: take a ton of pictures!

Materials used:

Super Clean Degreaser (purple)
Engine detailer
Lacquer thinner
Bushes and Mirco Fiber wash mitt
Mequiars gold car wash
Low adhesive auto tape
Meguiars DA polisher
Lake Country Buffing pads
Menzerna Polish line (very impressive)
Meguiars NXT 2.0 wax
Micro fiber towels x20+
a lot of elbow grease!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Again this my first attempted doing this. You learn a lot as you go. I removed about 90% of the scratches. Next spring I will do this again

I hope this helps you out. I have a spare car (91 civic) so i was able to leave it in the garage away from the elements as i slowly got it done.

GOOD Luck

Hondaforlife954

thanks!

Aman

No claybar?

Hondaforlife954

Yeah i did on the hood but it really didnt pick up anything....

Sarbag510

Thanks!! I was thinking about buying the DA polisher as well but I was confused to go either with that or the PC .

Hondaforlife954

If i had some extra cash i would have gone with the FLEX polisher. Its nice! but its 300$

TLMunchkin37

Looks great; thanks for the list of products used also!

Hondaforlife954

Thanks man! any TIME!

SweetJazz

Good job!

v|nsan|ty

Very nice

vinnier6

iTrader: (1)

i would not recommend a flex for a beginner...you can still damage paint with a flex...

i see you went the extra distance to purchase some quaility polish and do some real detailing, but used nxt for your final protection...why spend all the money and tiime doing it right and then not get a better protection product...

dont get me wrong, nxt is fine for an over the counter product, but there is much better protection out there...

Hondaforlife954

What would you recommend for wax? I mean there is so much out there?

thanks

CU2MIKE

Try Collinite 845. (Many people said it is more of a sealant rather than wax, I think it is more of a sealant with wax in it)
Or use a sealant instead, one sealant comes to mind is Menzerna Powerlock.
A wax I like to use is P21S 100% Carnauba paste wax. It doesn't last very long, but man the paint looks good after applying it.

95oRANGEcRUSH

It's all personal preference really. The first year I had my car I used Clearkote Carnauba Moose Wax which made the blue appear deeper and wetter. A carnauba is great for dark colors like black, blue, red. Last year I used Collinite No.476S which is technically a wax, but it performs like a sealant. The flake pops a lot more with this rather than the Clearkote and it runs about $13 at Harbor Freight.

Check out Autopia for reviews on waxes and sealants.
http://www.autopia.org/reviews/categ...s_and_sealants

vinnier6

iTrader: (1)

there is a little more to it then personal preference, now that technology has advanced, you can get more then just a few weeks protection from something like a carnuba wax...

i like four star ultimate paint protection for a synthetic sealant...then if you feel like you need to use a carnuba, you can top the 4 star with a short lived carnuba...

like i said, for an over the counter product, nxt isnt bad, but you could use a better product since your going the distance!!

95oRANGEcRUSH

If you say so. Ease of application, ease of removal, overall appearance of the product after application, price, etc are all attributes that would boil down to someones preference over dropping $10 for NXT or $175+ for something like Chemical Guys Celeste Dettaglio Wax. Technology is great but for your average person, with car care products, it's all about preference and what's cheap. For people who care a little more about this like us, we're the people who put preferences aside for technology and performance.

vinnier6

iTrader: (1)

come on brother, the op when through the trouble/money and used menzerna polishes...i doubt he used nxt because it was cheap, he just didnt know any better, and thats what we are all here for, to help each other out...i was there once, and just trying to repay the community...

Hondaforlife954

VIN you are correct! i didn't know any better if you read the title of the thread this was my 1st time. I popped my cherry! Read a ton on polishes but i failed to read more into wax's as i already bought the NXT for my wifes car. So i used it on mine with good results. I appreciate everyone's opinions as i am very new to the world of detailing. In a few weeks ill wax it again so ill use a better wax. THANK EVERYONE